Movable hearth furnace



Sept. 23, 1958 c. MONTAGNA 2,853,286

MOVABLE HEARTH FURNACE Filed Deo. 14, 1953 @da la@ ,0N

United States Patent O MOVABLE HEARTH FURNACE Carlo Montagna, Dalmine,Italy, assignor to Dalmine S. p. A., Milan, Italy, a corporation ofItaly Application December 14, 1953, Serial No. 398,178

Claims priority, application Italy December 15, 1952 2 Claims. (Cl.263-28) The present invention relates to hearth furnaces.

It is known that in heating or annealing furnaces having movablehearths, it is necessary for avoiding eX- cessive heat losses that thefurnace zones at higher temperatures be shielded from the cooler zones.For this purpose protecting walls are suspended from the furnace sidewalls in such a manner as to leave an opening of limited height in ordernot to hinder the movement of the hearth.

It frequently occurs, however, that treated material which should havebeen discharged remains on the hearth and strikes against the dividingwall. The replacement of the damaged wall requires considerable work aswell as the stopping of the furnace for an undesirable cooling period.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an improvedstructure for the utilization of dividing walls in furnaces havingmovable hearths.

According to the invention, a construction is obtained that avoids theaforesaid inconveniences in that the direct damages caused by anoccurrence of this kind are rendered less important. Particularly repairwork can be rapidly effected and does not require the stopping of thefurnace for a cooling period.

The invention contemplates making a dividing wall in two contactingparts having no positive connection. These parts may include an upperfixed portion suspended or anchored on the side walls of a furnaceduring construction and another detachable part capable of beingintroduced into the furnace through side openings by means of specialequipment which will be more fully described hereinafter and which is afeature of the invention.

The detailed provisions of the invention are next explained withreference to the accompanying drawing in which the sole figureillustrates a furnace having a movable hearth and further provided witha dividing wall arrangement in accordance with the invention.

In the drawing, 1 indicates the side wall of a movable hearth furnace 2in which according to the invention, a half dividing wall 3 is supportedby an upper frame 4.

2,853,286 Patented Sept. 23, 1958 ICC 2 A half dividing wall 5 isintroduced into the furnace through the side openings 6 and ismaintained in position by shoulders 7 which are held in place by beams 8as will be shown.

The half wall 5 generally has the shape of an arch and is positionedinitially between shoulders 7 arranged in spaced relation (whereat theyare maintained by tie rods 14) upon a shovel 9 attached to a lever 10provided with a counterweight 11. Two eyes 12 and 13 are located on thelever 10 for the balance of the empty shovel and for the shovel loadedwith the weight of a wall 5, respectively. With the arch on the shovel,the latter is lifted by means of a crane and inserted into the furnacethrough opening 6, wall 5 being positioned between the shoulders 7 whichare locked together by means of tie rods 14 as aforesaid.

The two beams 8 are then placed against shoulders 7, whereupon tie rods14 are removed and the shovel is pulled out leaving in place the wall 5to complete the protecting wall. Subsequently, openings 6 are closedwith readily demounted refractory bricks.

It will be apparent that the structure described above, as well as themethod of using the same, lends itself to a simple replacement of halfwall 5 in the event that this element deteriorates to any great extent.

I claim:

1. A furnace with a movable hearth comprising side walls adjacent saidhearth, a first dividing wall portion permanently fixed to said sidewalls and extending across said hearth but spaced therefrom, said sidewalls defining openings beneath said first wall portion, a seconddividing wall portion insertable through said openings for beingpositioned beneath and adjacent said first wall portion to constitutetherewith a substantially continuous dividing wall, shoulders removablypositioned in said openings for bracing said second wall portion inposition adjacent said first wall portion, and beams abutting saidshoulders for holding the same and thereby said second wall portion inposition.

2. A furnace as claimed in claim 1 comprising detachable tie rodscoupled to and extending between said shoulders for limiting relativemovement between the same.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,339,615 Wundrack May l1, 1920 1,394,471 Charles Oct. 18, 19211,457,443 Liptak June 5, 1923 1,569,923 Gudmundsen et al Jan. 19, 19261,783,156 Talley NOV. 25, 1930 2,103,170 Newhouse et al Dec. 2l, 19372,296,791 Keener et al Sept. 22, 1942 2,611,330 Kirk Sept. 23, 19522,699,740 Weber Ian. 18, 1955

